Back to Square One
by cherrycola-lola
Summary: James S. Potter is in his fifth year at Hogwarts - plotting pranks, playing Quidditch and harbouring a crush in much the same manner as his Grandfather. But just as things seem to be going well with Miss Evelynn Swann, a little prank goes A LOT wrong.


If you enjoy this, please go on to read it's sequel 'Admittedly in Denial'

* * *

**Back to Square One**

James watched the brunette sitting by the lake with an increasing sense of exasperation.

"Why won't she talk to me?!" he turned to his best friend, Daniel Juniper, with a forlorn look on his face. Dan glanced up from _'The Revised Edition of Hogwarts: A History' _and over to where Evelynn Swann was chatting animatedly to her friends.

"She hasn't forgiven you yet." Dan said simply, folding the corner of his page down and shutting the book. He knew he'd never get to read it in peace until James had finished his weekly…no, _daily_…mope over Evelynn.

James scowled, "It wasn't that bad...besides I didn't mean for it to happen to her."

He thought back to the incident that had taken him right back to square one with the divine Miss Swann. He'd grown up on legends of his grandfather- his namesake- and his friends, and on his Uncle George and his deceased twin Fred. They were pranksters. James, from a very early age, had determined to be just like them.

Evelynn, however, didn't seem to appreciate it. She had frowned upon his jokes and pranks since first year. At first, James had brushed her off- sure, she was pretty, but she was _boring_. Then she had become Chaser for the Gryffindor team in their third year and he had found himself becoming rapidly obsessed with her; her wit, her bookish tendencies, the way her olive eyes became greener when she was really happy or really sad, the way she bit her bottom lip when she was trying to hold her temper, the way she flew so gracefully and the way she ate sugar quills obsessively with nerves at exam time.

But all his hard work and efforts to impress her had been ruined by a simple prank that had gone horribly wrong.

_James and Oliver chuckled as they waited in the common room for their next victim. Henrietta Thomas would never report them to McGonagul again after this…Oliver brandished his wand and tapped the Butterbeer with it, replicating it twice so there were now three bottles. James grinned delightedly as he poured the potion into the original bottle. He couldn't wait to see how this one turned out._

_Henrietta emerged from the portrait door in a foul mood. James leapt up from his seat and waved at her as she came in, "Henrietta! Over here!!"_

_She looked over and sighed, if it had been anyone else other than James Potter she would have ignored them. Unfortunately for her, she harboured a rather strong crush on the boy… Despite the fact she had reported him to McGonagul for sneaking out at night only a few weeks ago (and earned him a week detention for it). She would never have done it normally, but it was a widely known fact that James fancied Evelynn Swann, who as a Prefect, told James off pretty often. Henrietta rather foolishly thought she might try it: maybe James liked bossy girls?_

_So, she had wandered over to James and his friend Oliver Bones, and gave them both a small smile. James grinned back at her, and she blushed a bit, relieved that he didn't seem to be mad at her._

"_You look tired, everything ok?" Oliver asked, and Henrietta nodded._

"_Just had a bad Potions class."_

_James nodded sympathetically, "Know what you mean…here, have a Butterbeer, that'll cheer you up."_

_Henrietta took it, even though she hated Butterbeer and smiled. "Thanks, I'll se you guys later."_

_James and Oliver waved until she was out of sight before they burst out laughing. "Can't wait till she drinks it."_

_They waited for five minutes before an ear-splitting shriek came from the girls dormitories. The two boys burst out laughing once more as thunderous footsteps came from the stairs. _

_All the humour drained from James the minute he saw the female in question. It wasn't Henrietta who had suffered from the hair growth potion, but Evelynn. She looked absolutely livid, and despite the fact she had a rapidly growing brown beard neither of the boys could laugh._

"_WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM POTTER?!" she bellowed the moment she saw James._

_James shrank away as she strode towards him, "It wasn't meant for you, it was for Henrietta."_

"_AND THAT MAKES IT BETTER THAT YOU TRIED TO PRANK SOMEONE ELSE?! YOU ARE AN INSUFFERABLE, IDIOTIC TOAD!" she was bright red, and even though she was a foot shorter than him, James felt like she was four feet bigger._

"_We're sorry Evie, but…" Oliver's voice was meek._

"_SHUT UP!" she bellowed, before rounding on James again, pulling her wand out of her robe menacingly, "IF YOU EVER COME NEAR ME AGAIN I WILL PERSONALLY SEE TO IT THAT YOU NEVER GRADUATE HOGWARTS WITHOUT AT LEAST ONE LIMB MISSING!"_

_With that final threat, she had stomped off to the Hospital Wing to get the beard removed._

_Though James had tried to apologise millions of times; he'd written to her, waited outside every class to speak to her, cornered her in the library; she would not budge. She completely ignored him, and if he got too close she used a swift Protego to keep him away._

James watched as she stood up and pulled her robe on. She locked eyes with him briefly, and James beamed at her, waving like a loon. She looked at him steadily, and he felt as if he was floating. She hadn't cursed him, scowled at him…in fact, it looked as though she was going to forgive him. Dan watched curiously as she eventually gave James a small smile, picked up a plastic cup of pumpkin juice and headed over to them.

James sat up immediately, his hand automatically rushing up to ruffle his hair a bit, and he grinned as Evelynn paused in front of them.

"Hello James, hello Dan." She said softly, her green eyes intent on James.

Dan nodded his head in acknowledgment and re-opened his book to pretend to resume reading. James beamed, "Hi Evie."

"I've been thinking James…maybe I over-reacted a bit to your little joke the other day. I know why you did it, and as much as I don't approve, I suppose it didn't mean any real harm, and it was actually quite funny."

James' grin stretched so wide that Dan was sure his jaw would break at any moment.

"Yeah, sorry about that…" James said, eager to keep on her good side, "You did manage to pull the beard off though."

Evelynn laughed lightly, "Thanks. Look, the girls and I are having a bit of a picnic," she paused, "Do you want to join us?"

James nodded and stood up immediately, having totally forgotten Dan was there too. Eveylnn looked at Dan questioningly, and he stood up too, inwardly chuckling to himself about the sheer delight on James' face as he trotted after Evelynn, a noticeable bounce in his step.

They joined the girls with their picnic, and James readily accepted a beaker of pumpkin juice, regaling the girls with a story of how he, Oliver and Dan had barely escaped Filch's capture when setting off Dungbombs one time.

Dan, still reading his book, thought that the girls laughed a little too gleefully, particularly since Evelynn usually vocally protested against their rule-breaking. He looked up curiously and burst out laughing himself.

"James…" his voice trailed off as he doubled over with hysterics. James looked at the girls in confusion, but they too were all laughing. Evelynn was almost in tears.

"What's going on?" he reached up to run a hand through his hair and let out a horrified little squeak. _His hair_…he put both his hands to his head in desperation to find himself _completely_ bald. He turned to Evelynn with wide, desperate eyes.

"That look really doesn't suit you Potter." She bit out between chuckles, and James watched her giggling away, her eyes twinkling at him teasingly, before he grinned. Sure, he was _completely_ hairless, but Evelynn Swann was talking to him again, smiling at him again…And she'd played a prank on him…_I'm going to marry this girl,_ he thought to himself as he joined in the laughter.

* * *

**please review, thanks.**


End file.
